Don't give up
by Nhoa Hatter
Summary: Bella didn't give up when it seemed that Rumple had died but.. Is the Dark One as strong as he pretends to be?


**DISCLAIMER: This is the english version of my own story: s/10603207/1/No-te-rindas (From "Es mío, solo mío. Mi tesoro." challenge, Bienvenidos a Storybrooke forum)**  
><strong>The OUAT characters don't belong to me, I just use them to satisfy my imagination.<strong>

**Season 3 spoilers.**

* * *

><p>Rumple never imagined how Bella had suffered while she was trying to recover from his death. He didn't see her kneelt down<p>

on the main street's tarmac from Storybrooke. 

The last thing he saw about her was how her broken pupils the second he drove the daga into his father's back and also into

his own chest. 

The last thing she saw was Rumple leaving his cowardice. 

The thing that he loved the most about her was the fact she never gives up, even when all seemed lost. It was that determination

which convinced Neal to help her bring back Rumple.

Unfortunately, it seemed the destiny was jealous about the growing love between Belle and Rumple, because the apparent Dark

One's death wasn't punishment enough so a new obstacle, appeared in the scene.

* * *

><p>Rumple knew how much she hated when things weren't like she wanted, so he tried to sabotage the orders he received from the<p>

wicked witch every time he could. Although it was a waste of time because she owned the daga and she could control whatever

he did. 

What he didn't know was that the witch's jealousy would be more dangerous than he thought.

* * *

><p>That cloudy morning wasn't a good omen. The witch, who had just got the prince Charming's courage and was about to got<p>

Rumple's brain, was fed up with looking for the Queen's heart so she decided to get a better replacement.

The door's bell rang and the door opened opened making a loud noise when it hit against the wall. Belle got startled and turned

to see who had barged in on that way. When she looked into the witch's eyes, the first thing she did was thinking about Rumple

and if he would be fine in spite of knowing he was that woman's sleeve.

The witch came closer to her without hardly saying a word and Belle could feel her warm breath on her neck. A look of disgust

appeared on her face and without a second thought her hand went through Belle's chest just to rip the heart out. Belle screamed

in pain for that action and fell down.

The wicked witch looked at the heart out of the corner of her eye and noticed how much it shone, a heart brighter than any other

she had seen before. She got the heart closer to her lips and whispered Belle to get up.

* * *

><p>A little ray of sunshine appeared and suddenly, the basement door opened so Rumple could see he shadow of his old friend. Without<p>

looking at her, he kept spinning the straw in a way to clear his mind until he saw a pair of high-heels approaching to him. He raised

his head and there she was, his beauty Belle, gazing at him. Rumple stood up and held the iron bars tight and looked at the witch

with anger while she was holding the young's heart and smiled to him.

Rumple cursed quietly. He wanted to see the witch burning in hell, to see the pain in her eyes, to rip her heart out and squash it with

no mercy.

The wicked witch raised the heart to the height of her eyes and stared at it carefully, trying to find some defects so she could discard it.

She moistened her lips and then she whispered some words to make Belle get closer to Rumple. Belle grabbed his face while she was

looking at him gently.

He knew the witch was controlling her acts, she wasn't conscious about what she was doing and before she could kiss him, he moved

away from her and spitted on the witch's feet.

Angry with the situation, she squashed the heart in front of him. When Rumple noticed what she had done, his face changed. He couldn't

believe she was able to do such a thing. He couldn't allow it but it was a waste of time, he couldn't do anything for her love.

* * *

><p>Rumple never imagined how much Belle had suffered since he felt it in his own heart. He fell down next to a little heap of red sand which<p>

was between him and the inert Belle's body. He didn't try anything, he just stayed there while the witch left away proud with her work.

Killing the wicked witch wouldn't worth it neither to get back Belle or calm his pain. Magic had always helped him but not any **l**onger. He

had lost the thing he loved the most and even the Dark One couldn't change it.

Days passed by while Storybrooke was recovering after the last events. Rumple was locked up in his shop, watching the chipped

cup, the only one thing which couldn't break him at all.

The urge of sleeping was strong and he couldn't avoid it, but in the moment he closed his eyes, his mind was full of Belle's

images in different situations and every time he tried to reach her, the slipped out of his fingers.

Sick and tired of that, he woke up sweating, with his eyes full of tears and he started to look for the only thing which kept the

pain away. After a hard search, he found a little trunk with small pots full of colored liquids, excepting only one of them was missed;

the one he wanted the most was empty.

Consumed by the anger, he threw away the little trunk which crashed into the crystal shelf. The sound was relieving.

He went out from the back room and he knew what he had to do immediately. He took his car and drove as fast as he could because

he needed to calm his pain as soon as possible. Once in his way, he tried to take a deep breath and gave a few steps before he stopped

in front of the painted line on the road which delimited the village's perimeter.

Rumple turn around one last time and then he saw Belle behind him, smiling at him like she could read his mind. Tears streamed

down her cheeks. Belle nodded, giving him the permission of forget her.

Finally, he face the line again and took the last step .

Suddenly, a wave full of energy invaded his body so the one who once he had been, disappeared with the wind.


End file.
